Blindsided
by Chaos Valkyrie
Summary: Rikku never saw it coming... a story involving blitzballs, black eyes, rusty knives, and snogging. Aurikku fluff written for the Aurikku LJ Round Robin Challenge.


**Blindsided  
****Series: **I Dare You #2, Aurikku LJC Round Robin Challenge Fic  
**Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**First Conceptualized:** February 28, 2006  
**Posted One-Shot:** March 1, 2006 (at Aurikku & LJ); March 3, 2006 (ffnet)  
**Posted Revisions:** April 15, 2008

**Author's Note:** This is part of the 'Round Robin' Challenge going on at the Aurikku LJ Community. I'm Challenge fic #2, passing the torch onto cupcakegirl. Hey, I almost pulled this into Play with Fire… still might, it gave my Plot Bunnies 'Ideas', which are never a good thing… they are most definitely Evil. Anywho, enjoy!

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She never saw it coming… though she supposed later that she ought to have. All the signs were there, after all, but she had never quite paid them attention.

"GAH!" Rikku cried as something smacked her – hard – in the eye.

"Whoa! Sorry, ya!" a heavily accented voice yelled.

"Um, I guess it's too late to call 'Heads Up', huh," came another chagrined voice.

Rikku opened her one good eye and glared at the two blitzers standing on the other side of the bridge. Both Tidus and Wakka simply _exuded_ guilt as they watched their blitzball slowly roll back towards them.

"Whoa, you look like Sir Auron glarin' like that, ya," Wakka snickered. Rikku frowned, her hand still clutching her right eye.

"Well, I wouldn't have to if _someone_ hadn't smacked me with a blitzball!" she retorted painfully. Her father walked over, grunting as he passed the two boys.

"Move yer hand, Rikku," he told her, and she reluctantly lowered it. She saw the wince on his face as his calloused hands gently examined it.

"Get yerself down to the infirmary and get that healed right now," he told her gruffly, and she nodded reluctantly.

"Oac, Vydran," she agreed, staggering over towards the doorway. Lulu nodded at her briefly in passing before turning to glare at the two blitzers. Rikku grinned as she watched Wakka and Tidus gulp nervously, their eyes wide as they faced not only her father, but the irate black mage as well. Rikku knew she wouldn't want a lecture from the two of them together… way scary.

The airship shifted just as Rikku walked through the doorway, and she stumbled, already off-balanced by the overwhelming pain in her eye. Instinctively, she reached out with her free hand and grabbed the first thing it came in contact with for support. She tripped and collided with a soft 'whump' into whatever it was…

"Rikku, what on Spira are you doing?" a gruff voice asked her. Her good eye met with Auron's, then dropped quickly in embarrassment. She had wondered why the wall was so soft, and she looked down to see that his arms were wrapped around her, instinctively holding her steady. His grip tightened as the airship shifted once again, and Rikku flushed.

"Goin' to the infirmary," she mumbled, trying to pull away. His arms wouldn't budge, however.

"What happened to your eye?" Auron asked, and she felt his arm leave her side as he reached up to lift her face towards him. He gently pried her right hand away from where it still protectively clutched her face, and she saw his expression shift from humor to concern.

"Wakka… or Tidus, I'm not really sure," she mumbled again. She saw Auron's eye flash with anger as he faced the door to the bridge, one arm still holding her in place. She giggled.

"Don't worry, Lulu and Vydran are already taking care of them," she told him. She was startled to hear the older guardian chuckle as he turned back to her.

"Well, then, I guess my interference is unnecessary. Where is the infirmary?" Auron asked, leading her down the hallway, one arm still holding her close to him. Rikku's mouth dropped open… was he…?

"It's down the hall and to the right, but I can walk there myself…" she began before he interrupted her.

"You've already proven that you can barely walk straight with that injury, Rikku," he told her sternly, but she swore that she could see a twinkle of humor in his eye. Rikku shook her head. The pain must be getting to her if she truly believed Sir Stoic was joking with her, looking after her…

They reached the infirmary without further mishap, and Rikku instantly felt herself tense as they entered the surgically sterile room. She felt rather than saw Auron look at her inquisitively, but she shook her head as the Al Bhed doctor approached her.

"Ah Rikku, always a pleasure to see you," Tuldun told her calmly. She nodded briefly, gulping nervously. She had never liked going to the doctor – shots, anyone?! – and Tuldun was her least favorite, due to his rather strange sense of humor. She grabbed Auron's hand and squeezed it painfully.

"Sit, sit," Tuldun said, waving absently at the table nearby. Rikku hopped up, still clutching Auron's hand. Auron sighed almost inaudibly as he leaned against the table next to her.

"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Tuldun asked, prying Rikku's hand away from her eye once again. Rikku shuddered involuntarily at the coldness of his hands… so unlike Auron's, which were warm and calloused in her iron grip. Tuldun 'tsked' briefly as he examined the injury.

"Look at me," he told her, and she struggled to do it through the swelling. "Hm… there's a great deal of swelling, and the eyeball itself is red with irritation. We may need to perform surgery…" Tuldun trailed off, pulling over his tray of examination tools. Rikku gulped as she eyed the tray worriedly.

"Surgery?" Auron asked doubtfully from beside her. She turned to give him a pleading look, but his gaze was fixed sternly on Tuldun, who was now rooting through his various apparatuses. The look deepened into something akin to anger as Tuldun held up a rusty knife and grinned.

"Perhaps…" he said, testing the blade's sharpness with his thumb, "And perhaps not," he replied, setting the knife back down and reaching for a small tube of medication.

"Here, smooth this gel around the eye twice a day until the swelling is reduced," Tuldun told her crisply, slapping the small tube in her hand. She quickly hopped down, but didn't get very far as Auron addressed the doctor incredulously.

"That's it? Why not a potion?" he asked Tuldun, who grinned lopsidedly.

"Potions cannot be used topically on the eye, due to the potential irritation caused by the ingredients. Besides, the eye can heal remarkably fast on its own, but potions tend to actually slow down the natural process. Use the cream to reduce the swelling, and the eye itself should heal in no time," Tuldun told them, ushering them towards the door in the process. Rikku dragged Auron, who looked like he might protest further, out into the hallway as the door slid shut behind them with a soft bang.

"The gel is fine, I'd rather not be around Tuldun any longer than necessary," she told Auron hastily, before setting off down the hallway. She heard the elder guardian sigh in annoyance behind her, the sound fading as she turned the corner to head towards her cabin. She had just reached her own door when the airship shifted once again and she tumbled backwards, bumping into something soft. She looked up to meet Auron's amused gaze.

"I d-didn't realize you were still f-following me," she stuttered as he chuckled.

"I really must have a word with your brother… his flying is terrible," Auron chuckled, leading her inside. Rikku nodded and watched, wide-eyed, as Auron just walked right into _her_ room and plopped himself down on _her _bunk. He motioned for her to come join him, and Rikku hastened to do so, her mouth suddenly dry. She sat down next to Auron, trembling slightly for reasons she couldn't fathom. He gave her a funny look, before reaching down…

And pulling the tube of healing cream from her hand, where she was unconsciously kneading it into oblivion. He quickly unscrewed the cap, squeezing a dollop onto the index finger of his left hand before addressing her briefly.

"Look at me," he told her softly, and she turned her face up towards his. She gasped slightly as he reached up and smoothed the cream gently about her eye, the pain instantly soothed away. She studied his calm expression as he finished applying the gel, the butterflies in her own stomach causing her to twitch slightly. Once he had finished, he studied her face briefly before reaching down to his waist…

…And pulled out a potion from his belt pouch. Rikku gave herself an internal smack for having her mind in the gutter.

"I still want you to drink this, despite what the 'Doctor' says," he grunted. "We need you in top form once we find Yuna," he told her, twisting off the stopper and forcing the potion into her hand. Rikku nodded mutely, tossing back the potion. She gagged, almost spitting it back out.

"What kind of potion was that? It tasted awful," she gasped, coughing. She glared at Auron blearily as he chuckled beside her. He slowly got to his feet, and the air became decidedly awkward between them. Rikku hopped up, not really sure of what she was going to say or do, as she reached out towards him…

And the airship conveniently hit a pocket of turbulence. Auron tumbled backwards, knocking into Rikku and throwing them both onto the bunk. They paused for a moment in shock, before he turned over and looked down at her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking her over for injury. Rikku glared up at him.

"Besides being squashed by a super-heavy legendary guardian… nah, I'm fine," she teased him. "How much do you weigh, anyway?" she asked, poking him in the chest. He grunted.

"Its all muscle," he told her with a smirk, grabbing her finger before she could poke him again. The air grew tense again as both their smiles faltered slightly.

"Oh, dra ramm fedr ed," she muttered, yanking Auron down by the collar and snogging him senseless. A few moments later, just when Rikku was feeling pleasantly tingly, he broke off the kiss with a grimace.

"You're right, that potion does taste awful," he groaned slightly. She slapped him on the arm playfully, and he grinned at her.

"That had better be the only awful thing," she told him, and he nodded as he lowered his head to kiss her again.

Rikku sighed happily, reaching up to twine her arms about his neck. She found it funny that when she had her full sight, she had missed this nicer side of Auron completely; she had never seen it coming. But with only one eye, she had seen his concern, his humor, and his attraction for her. She found it quite amazing how one could be half-blind, and yet still see so much they hadn't before.

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**End Notes: **All right, cheesy and fluffy nonsense, but I enjoyed writing it. Obviously, since there are three pages of it! Anywho, go to Aurikku to read the challenge fics! My challenge was quite evil… I'm going to go snicker uncontrollably now just thinking about it!


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